For this pairing, the pen and pencil by Mitsubishi came first. Well, kind of, because what made me get them was what was printed on the black body in huge yellow letters:
FERRARI 512 Berlinetta Boxer
What really surprised me was that this design was not under BOXY but a stand alone release. The basic display case did not carry any ‘Official License’ notice, so I wonder if this was a Scuderia endorsed product.
Rather than graphics of this sensuous sports car, the rest of the design was a technical readout:
Cubic capacity: 4942cc Max power: 360ps at6800rpm Max speed: 302km/h
Perfect fuel for reigniting my memories of the beauteous BB!
Designed by
Leonardo Fioravanti at Pininfarina, the curvaceous 512 BB came out in 1976 and was – in my mind – the perfect blend of power and elegance. And it would remain my favorite Ferrari until the debut of the Testarossa in '84.
Luckily for me, Tomica had released a yellow and black edition of the BB for its Premium line not too long ago, and it wasn’t too difficult to obtain one on the secondary market. I think it captured the essence of the design really well.
One thing I never thought about as a kid was: why is it called the
Berlinetta Boxer? Well,
Berlinetta is Italian for “
little saloon” — typically a two-door sports coupe. And
Boxer refers to the flat-12 engine layout, where cylinders move in opposite horizontal pairs — like a boxer’s fists. OK, that’s enough automotive daydreaming for now!
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I was also a fan of the Berlinetta Ferrari 512BB. The front end is magnificent. I still love pop-up headlamps. The Ferrari 308 GTB remains one of my favorites from that era. The Testarossa 512TR is gorgeous as well, so timeless on the exterior. The interior? Yikes. This is the same problem I’ve had with some of the 1980’s cars like the Mitsubishi 3000GT and Starion. At a couple different points I’d almost bought those two, about a decade after their release… prices after depreciation were attractive. But the instrumentation and interior bits were so badly dated. And the 3000GT had a below average reliability rating, with painful costs for repairs when things went wrong. But the exteriors of those cars… so great!
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Oooooh… you’ve peeked into my shooting schedule, Gary!
But yeah… comfort and all that, none of that mattered to a school boy, hahaha! It’s only now as a grown up that I get to read about all of the harsh realities about underpowered beauties and more.
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Ah, I figured you might eventually include those! I got Wordle on the 2nd try today–I ought to buy a powerball lottery ticket. 
Of course, back in the 1980’s, they were comparatively powerful cars. Today? It’s really amazing how powerful cars have become even within just 2.0 liter displacement. Cars pushing well above 250hp have much potential than really needed on public road use. I’d have rather seen a little less power boosting and much better fuel efficiency.
The car I’d opted for in 1990’s was… a Nissan Maxima SE 5 speed manual (bought it new). It was so very practical as a sedan, but was quite fast. 200hp from a V6. Gorgeous interior with white face gauges. I’d put in a sport suspension and lowered it just a little, which stiffened the ride a bit but improved handling. I had that car for 13 years. I eventually replaced it with an Audi A3 Sportback, 205hp from a 4 cylinder turbo. Actually faster off the line. But MPG wise? The Maxima was slightly more fuel efficient in combined city/highway driving.
I did some minor exterior cosmetic upgrades, like front grille (it was a metal insert that replaced the original plastic grille and this got rid of the Nissan “hamburger” badge), and rear taillights with “Altezza” style, a bit muted–painted the surrounds as the body color, like a Nissan Skyline.
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